Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington

Re: Last Will and Testamony

Mr. Steuart is correct in that a person can hand write their own will, called a holographic will, but there are some very strict requirements that have to be met in order for the will to be legally valid. There has to be the proper witnessing of the will and a notary can also be used if the necessary language is incorporated into the will. You definitely need to contact an attorney to do this as I recently had a will brought into my office that had been signed by the person making it and notarized but had not been witnessed properly; therefore, it was an invalid will. The person's wishes as to how their estate was to be left could not be honored and their estate was distributed under the laws of intestate succession, i.e., as if they died without leaving a will. Good Luck!

Re: Last Will and Testamony

The process that you describe does not fulfill the formalities of a valid WA will. The fact that it is handwritten is fine, but you need two witnesses and they have to either do an affidavit to the effect of their perception of your sound and disposing mind or they have to be available to testify at the entry of the will in probate.